A family mourning the death of a 16-year-old boy who was killed by a hit-and-run driver is searching for the person responsible for ending the teen’s life early. Karma Dickerson reports for the NBC4 News at 4 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 24, 2025.
The family of a 16-year-old boy who was killed by a hit-and-run driver in South Los Angeles over the weekend is seeking the public’s help in identifying the person responsible for the teenager’s death.
A reward of up to $50,000 is available to anyone who can provide information that’ll led to the identity of the person who struck and killed Hayden Neighbors. The teenager was riding his pocket bike around 2 a.m. Sunday near the intersection of Century Boulevard and San Pedro Street when a driver hit him and took off.
“That man did damage,” said Toya Givehand, Neighbors’ heartbroken mother. “I ain’t going to never heal from this.”
A neighbor’s surveillance camera captured the horrifying moment a driver hit the teenager and then left him for dead.
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“Look at him, just look. He didn’t deserve that,” Givehand said.
Neighbors was a football player at Freemont High School. Despite his mother’s concern, he enjoyed traveling on his pocket bike and usually made it home.
“That particular night, I don’t know, it was different,” the grieving mother said. “I got that phone call like, ‘Where’s Hayden at?’ Hayden wasn’t in his room … he was 10 blocks from home, he was on his way.”
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The vehicle in the death is described as a dark-colored Toyota Corolla. Police are hoping someone will recognize the vehicle in the video to help with the case.
“I want justice for my child,” Givehand said.
“If you know somebody who knows somebody who knows somebody, turn him in because somebody knows,” said Scott Burden, the victim’s uncle.
Anyone with information on the case is asked to contact LAPD’s South Traffic Division at 323-421-2577.
